It was over a century ago when Alecia Elizabeth Anderson opened the doors of the first motor mechanic workshop owned by a woman in Victoria. She was 22.

Until now, her story has been one nearly lost to the annals of time; a slice of early feminist history predating the iconic Rosie the Riveter, or the now clichéd ‘Girl Boss’ trope.

It’s admirable that the team behind Garage Girls has sought to shed light on Anderson’s story. But a slice-of-history-play is a particularly fickle form of theatre.

Garage Girls. Photo © Darren Gill

The best breathe life into historical fact, treating biographical details as a launching point. I think of the character-driven Julia at Sydney Theatre Company earlier this year, or the richly rendered Sunday at Melbourne Theatre Company. Both tell the story of trail-blazing women, and both juggle historical fact and characterisation expertly, never quite sacrificing one to the other and avoiding didacticism.

Despite its best intentions, Garage Girls is a textbook example of all-too-common mistakes. For 80-minutes, it stretches itself thin, attempting to include every single detail of Anderson’s life. The result is a production that feels more like...